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Odiyan assassin clan from Kerala (India).

It was in and around the 50s and 60s of the 20th century in the feudal lands of Kerala; two sects of martial artists came to emergence. The first was the Chekavars, the Kerala version of the Samurai, and the second, the Odiyans, the Kerala version of Ninja.

The Odiyan, a human during the day, works in the farmlands and households of the lords. He, like every other, needs to earn to support his family.

The Odiyan is infamous for his most mythical ability, an animagus, the ability to shapeshift into any animal of desire. When he receives a contract, his act begins with the search for a pregnant lady in the neighborhood. He marks her location by the day and visits by night. Because of such threats during those times, all pregnant women were asked to stay indoors after sunset away from possible sights of any lower caste people for the same reason.

The Odiyan travels in the shape of any animal: a bull, a dog, a wolf, etc., and are recognized by their deformity. A three-legged dog, a bull without its tail, or a wolf with three eyes. ‘For shapeshifting into these animals or inanimate objects like the bamboo stocks, he needs special oil made from the dead fetus.’

After fulfilling the contract, it is at Odiyan’s own risk to hide his identity, which makes it twice dangerous for people to come face to face with him on his way home. ‘A bath in steamy hot water as soon as reaching home removes the effects of the oil, and it is only after that they return to their normal lives.’

A story so goes of a rich lord, in the fertile lands of Valluavanad. Who to his shock found out, that a portion of his harvest was getting stolen by thieves. Like any other lord, he also assorted to his group of Odiyans and signed the contract to kill whoever was behind it. But very soon, his three sons, one after the other perished. The lord was keen to find out, what had happened to his beloved sons. But it was too late for him when the cheapskate realized, it was he who had trapped his sons. To save his last born, the lord begged, to revoke the contract, which an Odiyan clan never do.

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